American composer Stephen Best (b. 1946) is Minister of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Utica, New York and a member of the faculty of Hamilton College. Best is also a noted specialist in the organ instruction of young students and beginners. As a composer, he has written many practical organ works in a musical language that is primarily indebted to romantic music, with a bit of contemporary flavoring. Many of his compositions have been written for his young students, though a number of major concert organists have also performed his music.

“Four Gentle Overnight Pieces” (2006) is so named because each piece is straightforward enough to be able to be prepared by an organist “overnight” for performance. Each work takes a different approach to the familiar “melody and accompaniment” genre.